You won't regret being stuck with this activity. By mixing a variety of household items, pupils create their own glue. They test the tensile strength of their glue and compare it to that of other adhesives.

Create an egg-citing study of energy. Pupils investigate the effect of height and mass on the overall amount of energy of a falling object. The fourth segment in a six-part series on energy uses a weighted egg falling from different...

Help your class master the important concept of critical load. Pupils work together to build a structure using 12 playing cards. They test the critical load of the structure using pennies or paper clips.

Groups suspend objects within layers of liquids to determine the densities of different liquids and compare them to the densities of objects calculated in Part 1. The groups then carefully test their calculations by layering the...

In a nose-cone to nose-cone competition, which rocket will prevail? Teams form rocket companies to design and build a rocket while competing against other teams in an economic challenge. The team that comes up with the best benefit/cost...

Perform an activity on performance testing with a lesson focused on the purpose of wheel bearings on skateboards. Learners conduct performance testing on a skateboard to collect and interpret data.

Japan is one of only a handful of countries that constructs buildings that are almost earthquake proof. The 13th lesson in the 20-part series challenges scholars to build structures to test against earthquakes. With limited materials and...

Get your learners interested in space exploration. Groups design space rovers using design software and then build prototypes of their designs. The farther the rovers can travel, the better. The catch? The rovers must be powered by...

Let your class become master builders. Scholars use Legos® or K'nex® pieces to create a structure that looks like an actual building in existence. The time limit is 12 minutes, so you better start building!

Save yourself! Groups create a sturdy emergency shelter out of bamboo. The shelter must be large enough to fit one person. Now the most important question: Which member of the group gets to use the shelter in an emergency?

This isn't the boomerang you're used to. Scholars first see how a commercial boomerang works. They then cut out a four-wing boomerang and test its flight to compare it to that of the commercial boomerang.

Defy the laws of gravity. A simple activity has learners create a siphon pump for water. The challenge is to get water to flow upwards through a tube.

Great things come in small packages! What better way to illustrate this point than a week-long look at nanotechnology? Earth science scholars explore water quality issues through lab activities, then research new innovations in nanotech...

Drop a perfect project into your lesson plans. Groups use different building materials to create models of parachutes for food drops. After testing out their prototypes, they make improvements to their designs.

Make breaking a leg a less troublesome experience. Groups brainstorm designs for crutches that have devices that help carry items. They build prototypes of their devices to test out their designs.

Off they go — launching rockets is fun. The lesson plan contains templates to build paper rockets that can be launched from a PVC pipe launcher. Individuals or groups build the rockets and determine the shapes for their fins. Included...

Using a teacher-built wind tunnel constructed from a paper concrete tube form, a fan, and a balance, individuals determine the amount of drag their rocket design will experience in flight. Pupils make modifications to increase the...

Show your class how to develop a protocol to solve a problem. Pupils then continue with working with binary messages but refine a protocol to assist with the distinction of individual bits by including a bit rate. Finally, the pairs...

Biotechnology is big! Introduce the uses of biotechnology to science scholars with a fascinating, fact-filled unit. The first installment in a series of four biotechnology units covers the role biotechnology plays in human and...

Extensive reading is done in order to learn about scanning probe microscopy and nanoscale. Afterward, individuals use a pencil to probe an unidentified object that is inside of a box so that they cannot see it. Using only what they could...

NASA's LCROSS mission is dropping a probe into a lunar crater. Groups design a system to travel down a zip line and drop a marble onto a target in the classroom. The groups then modify their designs based upon testing. 

Where is my robot? Pupils create programs that utilize the localization services that a Roomba uses to determine its surroundings.

What's in your water? And, why is water quality so important? Enhance your class's level of water appreciation through a lesson that demonstrates the necessity of water quality. Environmental enthusiasts explore the EPA's Clean Water...

Show us your moves. Using sensor equipment, scholars track the motion of different movements, such as jogging, skipping, or jump roping. They analyze velocity and acceleration and create graphs representing each movement.